by Luis Robles
They traveled almost to the point of exhaustion, resting only when they couldn’t take it anymore. The desert winds never did end up picking up speed. They reached the alluvial fan by sundown, and a few hours later, they entered the wadi that led them to the canyon. As night fell, they turned on their flashlights.
“Is there any place around here where we can drink some water? I’m thirsty,” Clint asked.
“Drink water? Use your pouch,” Arnold chimed in.
“I can’t do that... Well, not anymore. My pouch is empty,” Clint replied.
“I think I still have half of mine left. That was a full 1.5 liters of water,” Avenn said.
“I still have some left as well. Didn’t you think about rationing it?” Jordan asked.
“It was three… The other pouch was also water. I’ve been sweating, and I was thirsty. It’s hell of hot out here,” Clint replied.
“Don’t worry, it’s about to get a heck of a lot colder soon. You didn’t feel it because we were traveling with the Orca... but if we don’t find shelter soon, I am pretty sure we’ll freeze to death,” Avenn said.
“Conserve your supplies. We don’t know if we will find a place,” Arnold said.
“That’s not going to be any good,” Avenn said.
“Yes, it won’t,” Arnold replied.
Their suits had two special pouches on their belts that allowed them to drink water or nutrients from a hose that ran through the side of their suits to their helmets. It was a common practice to usually fill both pouches with water, as the liquid food was repugnant.
Arnold turned to look at Kenya to see if maybe she had any idea where they could rest. She understood immediately.
“We are already in the canyon. We can start looking for a place now... preferably a cave of some sort. I don’t think we can get much further along if we don’t rest,” Kenya said as she began to feel the temperatures drop.
“Avenn, you take the right wall, and I’ll take the left. Try to look for a nice cave or crevice that we can stay in, preferably a deep one,” Arnold said as he began to run to the left wall.
Avenn went to the right. They both quickly disappeared ahead of the group, searching the walls for any possible refuge they could use.
“I don’t think you see anything on this site. I’ll keep going,” Arnold said.
“Wait, I think I found one. This one goes pretty deep so far. It’s a cave, a large one... and it looks like it’s fortified. Somebody had used this before, I’m sure of it,” Avenn said.
“What’s your location?” Arnold asked.
“I’m just a little ahead from where you entered last, on my side,” Avenn replied. “Yep, I definitely, definitely found one. It’s huge in here!”
“We don’t know where you went in, Avenn,” Arnold said.
“Alright, hold on. I’ll be out in a second,” Avenn spoke as he ran out the same way he came in.
Avenn was waving his flashlight back and forth at the entrance of the cave. The group hurried towards him. As they ran, Jordan was already prepping the radiation meter to determine if it would be safe to take out their suits inside the cave.
“Hey, Jordan, I really don’t think you’re going to need that,” Avenn said.
“If there’s one thing I have to make sure of, is of that. Or else, that will be the end of this team,” Jordan answered.
“Trust me. You’ll see for yourself,” Avenn said with a smile on his face as he led them inside the cave.
All but Avenn were bewildered at the site. Avenn wasn’t lying about the walls being fortified or the cave being large, no; if anything, he was belittling the enormous size of things. The cave walls went from having pillars of stone every few meters, to having their walls completely covered in concrete the more they walked. Remnants of old technology dotted the walls as they got deeper into the cave.
“I present to you, the reason why we won’t need the radiation meter,” Avenn said as he walked up to a large metal door.
“You have to be kidding me,” Arnold said in disbelief.
“The stories about the past world are real?” Jordan asked, bemused.
“Yes, yes, I read about this sort of things. They used to call them bunkers. That’s not all. I think this one is still functional,” Avenn said.
“What makes you say that?” Jordan asked, and they all looked at Avenn.
Avenn simply pointed to a small screen next to the door, which he had partially wiped earlier with his hand the first time he came into the cave. Red letters were flashing on the screen on and off.
SLEEP
ENTER CODE
ALOJAR
INTRODUZCA EL CÓDIGO
DORMIR
ENTREZ LE CODE
睡觉
输入代码
“Hey, Avenn, what does the rest of that say?” Arnold asked.
“It says ‘sleep’ and ‘enter code’ in different languages, over and over again,” Avenn replied.
Then, they turned to look at Jordan; he understood what they expected from him.
“Well… I can try. It wouldn’t hurt to try. I think the codes used in the past were much simpler than the ones we use now. I’ll try,” Jordan said as he ran towards the screen.
“Worst-case scenario, we’ll just have to stay here for the night, and we are going to need that radiation meter after all. I don’t think it’s that safe. Some of the fallout could have reached this place. So, let’s wait for Jordan. For now, keep your suits,” Arnold told them.
They all sat down, except for Arnold who leaned on the wall next to the door. As soon as the doors began to move, they all stood up. It took Jordan nearly thirty minutes to get the door to open.
“Did you get it?” Arnold asked right away when Jordan stepped back.
“Yeah, but I had to bypass it. Maybe from the inside, I’ll be able to change the code,” Jordan said, hitting his helmet to try and scratch an itch at the back of his head.
The door opened slowly. The locks, gears, and pulleys that kept the door closed could be heard reverberating on the cave walls, coming to life once again. As the door opened, light started to flash on, and gust of air was let out into the cave.
They grabbed their rifles and proceeded towards the door slowly. Their heart rates increased with every step they took towards the door, as none of them knew what was waiting for them on the other side.
“It’s just another room,” Clint said.
“Yeah, and there’s another locked door on end of it,” Jordan said, shaking his head from side to side.
Out of the five, Kenya was the most hesitant one and stopped short about two meters away from the door.
“What’s wrong?” Arnold asked.
“We are too far away from where we should be. At least four more hours in walking time. There shouldn’t be structures like this so far away from our destination,” Kenya said nervously.
“Yeah, I agree. It’s all very strange. But there’s nothing we can do about it now. We lost the Orca, and if we don’t try to replenish soon, we will be in big trouble. Just do the best you can to mark the maps, and we will be back on track as soon as we can. This will be just a rest,” Arnold said.
“I’ll go in first. There is another screen next to that locked door. It’s working... I think flashing red also but I can’t see what it says. I’ll go wipe the screen to check,” Avenn said as he approached the threshold.
“Ok, go in slowly. Take all the time you need,” Arnold said, nodding.
Avenn stepped through the locked door cautiously. As he was about halfway inside the room, he noticed the screen next to the door start flashing blue instead of red. He ran as fast as he could towards the screen. He wiped the screen clean to read what it said as the door behind him began to close.
CONTAMINATION DETECTED
BEGINNING DECONTAMINATION
CONTAMINACIÓN DETECTADA
DECONTAMINACIÓN INICIAL
CONTAMINATION DÉTECTÉE
DÉCONTAMINATION
DE DÉBUT
污染物检测
开始消毒
“It’s starting decontamination... it’s a clean room!” Avenn turned and yelled.
Arnold was already halfway when he turned to look at the others; Jordan was inside, and Clint had just made it. The door was closing faster and faster, and Kenya was the only one left outside; she still was hesitant.
“Get in here!” Arnold shouted.
She unfroze, and she jumped inside, barely missing the edge of the door. They instinctively formed a group in the middle of the room.
“Decontamination will commence in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...” a clear woman’s voice said from somewhere in the room.
The group looked around to see where the voice was coming from, but there wasn’t an obvious source. The ceiling began to open up and each of them pointed their rifles towards the machine that was coming down. There were four discs on each corner of the apparatus beginning to rotate, making a whoosh sound as they did. Soon after, a green liquid began pouring out of the machine at high pressure, drenching them instantly.
“What is this stuff?” Arnold asked once he figured out the liquor was not damaging the suits in any way.
“It sure is so gooey,” Clint said.
“It’s sort of like what we use in the Havens or in the Orca when we are going to take off our suits. But this is a lot thicker, maybe for heavier use,” Jordan said as he examined the viscous liquid.
After a few moments, as everything was being covered in green goo, the apparatus stopped. A different set of rotating discs replaced the ones ejecting goo. And as the first disc did, they also began to spin, but this time it was high-pressure water that shot from the discs, washing everything in the room.
“What the...” Avenn voiced what everyone else was thinking.
The entire room has changed its face now; instead of dust and dirt everywhere, it was predominantly white. They were stunned by the cleanliness of the room. On the sidewalls of the room, four lights, one on each side, started to flash blue as the voice appeared again.
“Regulating air.”
There was a pause, and they all felt the air rushing in.
“Please, remove outerwear. Rest on racks.” The voice looped as large racks made their way into the room.
“Any objections?” Arnold asked.
“It might be the only way to get in there. We have to do what it asks. I’ll check the air quality before we take off our helmets,” Jordan said as he took a small device out of his jacket’s side-pocket.
The voice looped in the background.
“She’s pretty persistent, huh?” Kenya muttered as she got her stuff ready. She started taking everything off that she will be able to leave behind in the large racks. But even if the machine would ask her to, she would never leave behind the map.
The group followed the same, taking off their backpacks and survival belts as they waited for Jordan to finish the sweep of the air.
“It’s 100% breathable. There’s virtually no toxins. It’s cleaner than anything we ever breathe before,” Jordan finally said.
“Well, here goes nothing,” Avenn said as he removed his helmet. He was the first one, and the others followed. He was hesitant to breathe at first, as well as the others. But after the first few breaths of fresh air he ever had in his life, he couldn’t help but to try and breathe it all in.
“Wow, so that’s what the word fresh air means!” Jordan reacted.
“Apparently. So, what’s next?” Arnold asked as he stripped down his inner suit.
Their inner suits were a lot thinner and a lot more flexible than their outer suits. They were lightweight and pressed up against their body, like a second skin. Although thin, they will still be able to withstand a small caliber shot or stop a knife from piercing the suit. The suits covered most of the body until their necks. The suits were primarily black, with a light blue colored stripe running down the length of the bodies on both sides.
Clint was the first one to hang the suit on the provided racks, but not before taking a sip of water. His bag of nutrients and water, and his rifle were the only two things that he was not willing to leave behind.
Besides their rifle and nourishments, the rest kept additional items with them that they were not willing to leave behind. For Kenya it was her map, for Avenn it was his small notebook, for Jordan it was a toolkit, and for Arnold it was his lucky knife. After hanging their suits and putting most of the stuff they were carrying in the racks, the racks began to pull back into the walls. The voice appeared once again.
“Phase One complete. Proceed to airlock number two.”
The door in front of them unlocked and opened automatically. They continued with caution and rifles at the ready. As they entered the next room, the door behind them closed. The voice appeared once again.
“Initiating Phase Two.”
Cold air rushed in the room through the roof and out the floor three times, then stopped. The polite woman’s voice appeared once again.
“Phase Two complete. Welcome to Ares,” the voice said as the door in front of them opened.
“What is Ares?” Arnold asked.
“I think that’s the name of this facility. During the Great War, they named facilities after the Greek gods, and this facility’s name is Ares,” Avenn explained.
They stepped through the door slowly, and as they got to the other side, they froze. Fear, excitement, and disbelief ran through them, as the room they had stepped in was not a room, it was a colossal structure—many times larger than what their young eyes had seen before, nothing compared.
“The entire Haven could fit in here,” Jordan said in awe.
Lights began to flicker on everywhere, and the polite voice appeared once again, “Initiating hibernation awakening.”
Whining noises began to sound all around them.
“Initiating hibernation awakening? What is that?” Arnold asked to no one in particular.
“Hibernation awakening is a set of protocols I must follow in the event a human form is encountered once again,” the voice answered him.
They all looked at Arnold, awaiting what will be their next move.
“Let’s secure the place. Jordan and Kenya, you go left. Avenn and Clint, you go right. I’ll go straight. Regroup here in five,” Arnold said, gesturing towards the directions.
“The area is secure. You’re the only life form on my sensors throughout the facility,” the voice chimed in.
Regardless, they split up into the order Arnold had assigned them. At each end of the giant room, they each found long corridors with locked doors at the end. They regrouped back into the same place they started.
“What did you find?” Arnold asked while breathing a little heavy.
“It’s just more of the same—a lot of locked doors... and the corridor leads to a dead end,” Avenn said hurriedly.
“Same,” Clint said.
“No luck here,” Jordan said.
“It was the same for me,” Arnold said.
“For all we know, this place could be huge. We need to find a map somewhere,” Kenya said as she looked around.
“Maps of the facility are readily available at your request. Should I bring one up?” the polite voice offered.
They looked at each other, and then at Arnold.
“Yes,” Arnold simply said.
“Very well then, if I could direct your attention to the center of the room,” the polite voice said as a circular structure was rising from the ground.
They headed to the new structure in the center of the room. As they got closer, the circular screen turned on slowly, gaining brightness. A two-dimensional map was appearing right before them, constructing itself piece by piece. The map had a single red flashing dot on one extreme end of it.
“Is it really a map? Can you make sense out of it?” Arnold asked as he turned to Kenya.
She nodded and swiftly pointed at the flickering red dot, “This is where we are located now... and th
is is where we came in from, I think,” she said as she moved her finger slightly back.
“This place must be huge then,” Avenn said.
“So, what exactly is this place? Do you think this is what we’ve been looking for?” Arnold asked her.
She inspected the map and didn’t say anything. She, like the rest of them, was in a loss for words at the sheer magnitude of the place.
“I have a complete recollection of past events. Would you like me to answer the question for you?” the polite voice asked.
“Yes. And start by telling us where you are, and what is your purpose,” Arnold said.
“Yes, of course,” the polite voice said as she dimmed the lights from the large room and the circular screen got brighter. She began to show the group some images of the past world, images of the construction of Ares. “My name is Iris, after the goddess of rainbow. My purpose in this world is to help humanity in any way I can.”
“So, you are on our side?” Arnold asked.
“That is correct,” Iris replied.
“Alright, so what happened? What is this place? Is this where the War Beast is kept?” Arnold asked.
“It was the year 2101 when humanity faced a sudden and dire turn of events. A threat from far away, from another world, appeared. Humanity was unprepared. The invaders were unstoppable, systematically destroying Earth’s governments.” At this point, images of the aliens appeared before the group. She continued, “Despite the call to unite forces against the alien threat, governments waited to join the fight in an attempt to use the invaders to get rid of the enemy.” Images of government leaders appeared on the screen. “The last hope for humanity was project Olympus. It took a decade, and five of Earth’s most powerful nations. They came together, poured their resources, their ideas, and their strengths to build machines or, as many came called them, ‘War Beasts’ that were able to withstand a direct attack from the invaders.” Images of the beasts appeared; each beast was different, each was unique. “For years, humanity was able to hold the line, and in some cases, advance. But in the end, it was an impossible fight. As the great War Beasts fell, so did humanity. In one last attempt to get rid of the decease that were the alien invaders, they turned the key to humanity’s most destructive force—the atom.”